Author interview: Beth Revis

Wednesday, 16 March 2011

Hey Beth. Thanks for doing my first author interview with me. Across The Universe your debut novel just launched in the UK. Can you tell me a little bit about your book?

It's a murder mystery...in space! Amy is cryogenically frozen to be with her family on an intersteller space journey. When she's woken fifty years too early, she's got to figure out who's unplugging (and thereby killing) the others...before he gets to her parents.

What is a typical writing day for you?

It depends on what stage of writing I'm at. If I'm writing the first draft, then everything shiny and I jump out of bed and write all happy-like. If I'm revising, I crawl out of bed late like a slug and growl at the world and hack away. If I'm near a deadline, then I've probably procrastinated too much and now I'm late and I spend all day pounding away at the keyboard in a panicked frenzy.

Across The Universeis the first book in a trilogy. Are you currently writing the second book and do you have a possible date for the release of the second book?

I just turned the second book into my publisher; it should be released sometime next year. The title is A MILLION SUNS. Soon, I should also start writing the third book, and then a next project!

Across The Universeis science fiction/fantasy novel. Do you like reading this genre yourself?

I do! I don't particularly like hard sci fi, but the lighter stuff, that focuses more on the fiction side than the science side, has always been a favorite of mine. I was introduced to it with ENDER'S GAME, HITCHHIKER'S GUIDE and even THE GIVER, but my fave TV shows of all time are FIREFLY and DOCTOR WHO.

I saw Doctor Who holds a special place in your heart. The same with me, am a big fan. Is there any other Sci-fi movies/programmes you enjoy watching?

FIREFLY is by far the absolute best--I adore that show, even if it was so short lived. I'm also a fan of the old school STAR WARS and the new school STAR TREK, and I've just begun watching BATTLESTAR GALLACTICA.

There are loads of great books released this year. Is there any you would reccommend?

So many! Veronica Roth's DIVERGENT is an amazing dystopia, but I loved it for the love story. I'm looking forward to sequels, too--Carrie Ryan's THE DARK AND HOLLOW PLACES, Kiersten White's SUPERNATURALLY, and so many more!

Is there any book you wish you had thought of and wrote?

Harry Potter! Not for the fan and fortune (although that'd be nice) but mostly because I would love to live in the world in a way only JK Rowling can.

Finally I saw your favourite author of all time is C.S. Lewis. I personally adore C.S. Lewis. What makes him your favourite author of all time?

I first discovered THE LION, THE WITCH, AND THE WARDROBE in my local library. They had these really great stairs that I would sit under and read--I remember reading that book when I was rather young, like seven or eight, and realizing that there was another story in the book--that the characters represented other things, that the plot paralleled bigger ideas. It was revolutionary to me, like a magic puzzle box in the story, and I spent the rest of my life trying to discovery the magic in other stories, including my own.

I just want to say a big thank you to Beth for taking the time to do this awesome interview with me. I hope you guys like it!